gorton



R. GORTON.

GARTEN. APPUCATION F|LED 0m16.191s.

Patented Deo. 23, 1919.

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H. GORTUN.

GARTEH S5211? ZM /M'ornefo APPLICATION FILED DEC. I6, i918- Fries.

`RBERT GORTO'N, 0F BROOKIJINE, MASSACHUSETTS.

GARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Paten-teu nee. se, 191e.

Application filed December 1G, 1918. Serial No. 267,053.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT GoRToN, a citinen of the United States, residing in Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to gentlemens garters ofthe class in which the stocking-engaging clasp members are connected with the ends of the `leg-band by clasp-suspend ing devices secured to a pad,arranged hetween the ends of the leg-band. This kind of garter is `commonly called a pad garter, and the` object of my invention is to produce a garter of this class which may be cheaply made froma minimum amount of material, shall consist of few parts and which shall be light, neat and well fitting, and also strong, durable and comfortable.

My invention may be embodied in a garter' in various ways which will be hereinafter explained, but preferably the garter comprises a pad in which portions of the legband are so embodied in it as to give it strength, stiffness and durability.

In the preferred construction the front or outer part of the pad is made from a por-` tion of the same material that forms the legband or portions thereof, while the rear or inner part of the pad is made from folded portions of the same material.

In producing a garter having these characteristics I preferably proceed as follows. A strip of suitable material is first folded upon itself and the two folds are secured together near the doubled or looped end of the strip by a line of stitches which is prefer ably disposed diagonally across the strip. The looped end and projecting endsare then flattened in such manner as to produce a pad having portions of the strip projecting upwardly from its upper part in opposite directions to form the leg-band or portions thereof. 'Ihe clasp-suspen iling devices are then attached to the pad and the leg-band is equipped with the usual slide and fastening device or cast-off. Obviously, however, the strip or tape may be equipped with such devices before the pad is formed.

While I prefer to proceed in the manner above described, there are other ways of producing my improved garter as will be here inafter explained.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a perspective view of a garter embodying my improvements in the preferred way.

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the pad portion of the garter and portions of the leg-band.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the pad portion of the garter and adjacent portions of the legband.

Fig. d shows a section on the line 4-fl of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 shows a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 shows a section on the line 6-6 of Fig.` 1. p

`Fig 7 is a perspective view showing particularly how the clasp-suspending devices are attached to the pad.

In Figs. 8 to 15 of the drawings I have illustrated the method of making the garter shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 8 shows a strip of material from which the pad and leg-bands or portions thereof may be formed.

Fig. 9 shows the first step of the method which consists in doubling the strip upon itself and securing the folded strip by a diagonal line of stitches.

Fig. 10 shows the next step where a wide loop is produced in the folded strip.

Fig. 11 illustrates how this loop is flattened.

Fig. 12 shows how the leg-band portions of the strip are flattened or bent in rear of the pad portion.

Fig. 13 is a rear view of the blank in the condition it assumes when bent in the manner indicated in Fig. 12.

Fig. 14C indicates the next step where the clasp-suspending devices are associated with the pad.

Fig. l5 illustrates how the parts are secured by properly arranged lines of stitches.

Fig. 16 illustrates a modification in which thepad and one side of the leg-band are made from one piece of material and another portion of the leg-band is made from a separate piece.

Fig. 17 illustrates how a somewhat similar result may be obtained from three pieces of material.

Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the front portion of a modified form of garter, and

Fig. 19 is a similar view of the rear portion thereof.

In Fig. 1 A indicates the pad, B the legband, and C the usual tab which may be considered a part of the leg-band. D indicates a clasp with stocking-engaging members of well known construction, and E the suspending devices therefor which are attached to the pad. F indicates the usual slide or takeup and G indicates the fastening devices or cast-olf.

It will be observed that in the form of my invention shown in Figs. 1-7 `of the drawings the entire pad is formed by folded portions of a strip of the same material as the leg-band or portions of the leg-band and that the material is so folded as to give body, stiffness and strength to the pad. The rear portion of the front of the pad is entirely covered by the material except at a small part of the bottom thereof, as indicatedvat o@ in Fig. 2. The middle portion of the pad consists of three layers of the strip of material, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 4:, making siX thicknesses of material when a tubular strip is used. The upper and lower portions of the pad consist largely of two layers of the strip of material, as indicated in Figs. 5 and 6, and the claspsuspending devices E are connected lwith the folds of the pad. By this construction not only is the garter as a whole given a neat and pleasing appearance but it is strong and durable, the pad retaining its shape permanently and the leg-band is so connected with the pad as to hold it properly in place when in use and to direct the strains in the proper direction. A garter of this construction may be economically made with great facility and despatch, as will now be explained.

In Figs. 8-15 of the drawings I have illustrated the steps of a method of making the garter shown in Figs. l to 7 of the drawings.

Fig. 8 shows a pieceof suitable material in the form of a strip or tape from which the pad and leg-band or portions of the legband are formed.

Fig. 9 shows the first step in the method, which consists in folding the strip upon itself to produce a loop 1 and then securing the two members of the folded strip together by a diagonal line of stitches as indicated at 2.

Fig. 10 shows the looped portion of the strip opened up and then this member of the strip is liattened, as shown in Fig. 11 to produce a pad part 3 and leg-band portions 4 and 5, these latter parts being then liattened or bent around upon the rear portion of the pad, as indicated in Fig. 1L. In this way a construction of the kind shown in Fig. 13 is produced, where it will be observed a construction is illustrated comprising a pad part and two connected and oppositely extending leg-band parts, the strip from which these parts are formed having two diagonal folds where contiguous layers form the front and a part of the back of the pad and two other diagonal folds` abutting upon the lines of fold whereby the rear layers of said last mentioned folds extend upwardly from the lines of fold and form the two leg-band portions and also a backing for the pad.

The clasp may be then associated with the pad in the manner indicated in Fig. 14, and also in Fig. 7, the clz'isp-suspending devices being inserted between the folds of the pad in rear of the front portion thereof. After this, the parts are secured together by lilies of stitches, as indicated at 1/ in Fig. 15. The cast-olf and slide may then be applied to the leg-band or as before stated these parts may be attached to the leg-band before the folding operation takes place.

As before explained I prefer to construct the garter in the manner illustrated and just described, but it must be understood that I may form the whole of the pad and the whole of the leg-band from a single piece of tape or a single piece of material which may be elastic or non-elastic or the pad and those parts of the leg-band nearest the pad may be formed of one material while the remainder of the leg-band is formed of other material. I consider it desirable, however', to forni the entire pad and those portions of the leg-band connected with the pad 4of a single piece of material. If this be of non-elastic material a piece of elastic material may be embodied in the leg-band, or if the pad be made of elastic material and the adjacent portions of the leg-band be made of the same material then the remainder of the leg-band may be made of non-elastic or semi-elastic material. Other modifications of this part of the invention might be mentioned. Preferably, however, the material employed is of such kind that both sides are linished in the same way and present the same appearance so that the front of the garter after the parts are folded shall be neat and attractive. Preferably, also where the middle portion of the leg-band is made of elastic material the pad and the two portions of the leg-band adjacent thereto are made of a tubular strip so that the elastic portion of the leg-band may be more securely and more neatly attached.

In the preferred construction of the garter a single strip of material is used to form the pad and contiguous portions of the legband. After the material has been formed into the pad and leg-band portions it has in it four diagonal folds, vl. e., two oppositely inclined diagonal folds where the leg-band portions join the pad and two oppositely inclined diagonal folds where the front layer of the pad joins the rear portion thereof.

lt will be observed that the leg-band portions of the strip are stitched together on the line of the two diagonal folds by which they are formed thereby securing together portions of the pad at the center thereof and helping to form a strong junction between the pad and the leg-band portions.

ln Fig. 16 l have shown a modified way of making the garter. lin this case the pad and a portion of the leg-band is made of one strip of material L, while the other part is made of a separate strip M, these parts being folded in the manner shown and then secured in the manner above described. In this way the garter is made to have a construction resembling that before described inasmuch as it will comprise a pad consisting of parts of the leg-band embodied in it in such manner as to reinforce and stiffen it.

A somewhat similar result may be 0btained by employing three pieces of material to form the pad, as indicated in Fig. 17, Where N indicates the pad, O a part of one end of the leg-band, and P a part of the opposite end thereof. These three parts are bent and are interloclred and stitched in a manner similar to that before described.

Figs. 18 and 19 illustrate a garter, in which the pad and the leg-band or portions thereof are made from a single piece of material, the pad being rectangular. In this case a tape or strip of suitable material is so folded as to produce the rectangular pad portion Q from which extend upwardly the portions-R and S of the leg-band. In this case also the material is so folded as to produce a pad having a flat, smooth front part reinforced at the rear by folded portions of the same material of which the pad and legband are formed.

It will be observed that in all cases the inner portions of the clasp-suspending devices are so embedded in the pad as to thicken it and thus assist in giving strength and body to the pad.

The drawings illustrate several forms of garters where the part-s are made from strip material of the same or uniform width throughout but this `is not essential so far, at least, as some features of my invention are concerned.

l do not consider it necessary to employ a lining or interlining for the pad nor to apply a facing to the front of the pad as is usual in the manufacture of pad garters, but such linings and facings may be added if desired. I

In my application for patent filed Dec. 16, 1918, No. 267,052, l have described a method of making garters having the characteristics of those herein shown and described, and claims to said method are made in said application. The claims herein are confined to novel constructional features of the garters themselves.

l claim as my invention 1. A garter, made from strip material folded toform a pad and leg-band portions which have inner folded parts connected with each other in rear of the pad by a vertical line of stitches.

2. A garter, made from strip material fold-ed to form a pad and leg-band portions, which latter have inner folded parts which abut at their inner ends and are joined directly at the back of the pad by a vertical line of stitches and extend outward from the pad in opposite directions and at an angle to each other of less than 180 degrees.

3. A garter, comprising a pad and a legband, the front of the pad having portions on each side bent inward and then outward across the rear face thereof to provide a triple thickness of material and also to provide upper parts which are of double thickness and from which portions of the legband extend diagonally in opposite directions.

4. A garter, comprising a pad and a legband, the pad having a front part formed with portions which are turned inward and then outward and secured to the pad to increase the thickness thereof and from which opposite portions of the leg-band extend.

5. A garter, comprising a pad and connected leg-band parts extending in opposite directions therefrom, each leg-band part having a diagonal fold at the back of the pad whereby the leg-band parts extend outwardly from the pad at an angle thereto and the contiguous layers of the folds form parts of the pad.

6. A garter, comprising a pad and connected leg-band parts extending in opposite directions therefrom, each leg-bandi part having a diagonal fold at the back of the pad whereby the leg-band parts extend out- 115 wardly from the pad at an angle thereto and the contiguous layers of the folds form parts of the pad, and a line of stitches securing the two leg-band parts together at their lines of fold. 120

7. A garter, comprising a pad and two connected and oppositely extending leg-band parts formed from strip material, each of said leg-band parts having a diagonal fold so as'to extend away from the pad at an 125 angle, the said two diagonal folds abutting at the back of the pad.

8. A garter, comprising a `pad and two connected and oppositely extending leg-band parts formed from a single continuous strip 130 of material, said strip folds therein whose contiguous layers form the front and a part of the back of the pad, and having also two other diagonal folds therein abutting upon their lines of fold, whereby the rear layers of said last named folds extend upwardly from the lines of fold and form the two leg-band parts and also a backing for said pad.

9. A garter, comprising a pad and two connected and oppositely extending leg band parts formed from a single continuous strip of material folded upon itself by four diagonal folds to form said pad and legband parts, and secured in said folded relation by suitable stitching.

l0. A garter, comprising a pad and two connected and oppositely extending legband parts formed from a single continuous strip of material folded upon itself and sehaving two diagonal cured by stitching, each of said leg-band parts being diagonally folded upon the remainder of the strip so as to extend upwardly therefrom, the said two diagonal folds abutting to form a backing for and the upper part of the pad.

garter, comprising a pad and two connected and oppositely extending legband parts formed from a single continuous strip of material folded upon itself and se-4 ROBERT GORTON. 

